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Key Duties and Priorities Associated with the Position

Once it has been determined how the position supports the goals of the organization, the supervisor can begin developing explicit duty statements for the position. A list of duties may be found in section 2 of the position’s Classification and Recruitment Form (CARF). Almost any position can be described in no more than six duty statements, and for some positions, fewer are needed. Some typical duty statements are provided as examples.

Example 2: Designs, implements and administers local area network that meets departmental needs and interfaces seamlessly with university network.

Example 3: Tracks grant funding opportunities; keeps appropriate faculty informed of opportunities in their research areas to maximize outside funding of university research activities.

There are some general guidelines for writing duty statements. Note that in the examples, all the verbs are specific and active (e.g., audits). "Responsible for" is not appropriate in a duty statement. Note also that the verb always has an object (e.g., audits usage of all radioactive materials). Finally, note that the duty statement says why the duty is done, or what is supposed to be accomplished by completion of the duty (e.g., audits usage of all radioactive materials to ensure proper usage and disposition).

There are several helpful approaches to generate duty statements. One way is to think about how a staff member currently spends his time. A second approach is to consider what one would say to a very desirable position applicant who asked how a typical day on the job would be spent. A third approach is to consider what other staff members would have to accomplish if the position in question were abolished. If what the staff member is supposed to do have never been discussed, there is no reason to expect him Second, consider the importance of the duty. These are not necessarily the same. A fundraiser spends relatively little time closing the agreement for a specific donation (compared to the amount of time spent establishing a relationship with a prospective donor, for example) but it is clearly the most important part of the position. Consider the consequences to the unit if a duty is not done or done poorly. The total of the weights assigned should be 100%.

The next stage requires development of results and behaviors to use in setting performance standards relative to duty accomplishment. One or more results and/or behaviors must be developed for each duty. These performance indicators also need to be weighted. The sum of the weights for all results and behaviors associated with a duty should sum to the weight assigned the duty. In some cases, a result or behavior may be associated with more than one duty. The total of weights assigned to results and duties should be 100%.